Crushed
by Eve Davidson
Summary: Ali and her crush on Daniel-beach scene.
1. Chapter 1

Ali felt the negative ions wash over her in the ocean spray. The darkness seemed to slip gently over everything. She felt stoned on the sweet ocean air, the smell of the hot dogs cooking and the marsh mellows. She liked every song that came on her radio.

But she knew the real reason she was feeling this way. It was the new kid, the one hanging out with Freddie. The one with the big dark eyes and dark hair. The one who was flirting with her. She smiled and laughed with her friends, and she knew she was pretty. Guys flirted with her all the time, but they were usually nerdy dorky guys or dumb jock guys and she didn't care, just toyed with them like a cat with a string, or a scared little mouse.

But this guy, he seemed different. She liked his east coast accent and she liked his dark tanned skin and straight black hair. She felt like she wanted to talk to him more. And she could see him over at the other fire, saw him heating up his hot dog on a stick, his face intent on the fire.

She licked her lips and watched him, watched him talk to Freddie and all his friends, watched him smile and laugh. Maybe he seemed different from her ex-boyfriend Johnny, different in looks and temperament, and maybe that was something she was looking for.

"Are you looking at that new kid?" her friend said, nudging her. She shook her head and smiled but she didn't take her eyes off of him. He was standing up now, talking to Freddie and his friends, gesturing with his hands. He glanced over at her quickly and then glanced away. She looked away, too, looked at the great expanse of the ocean, ripples of black in the inky sky.

She felt the soccer ball slam into her leg and roll away, and one of her friends took it and tossed it to her. She caught it and saw the boy coming over to her while Freddie and his friends laughed. Her friends parted like the red sea for him, and she stood up and tossed him the ball. He caught it easily and ducked his head and smiled at her.

"Thanks," he said, and she liked his voice, liked how it was deep and scratchy, "I hope we aren't bothering ya," he said, and she noticed the accent again. It was either New York or New Jersey, she couldn't be sure which. His voice made her think of New York city skylines and the backs of restaurants with the metal fire escapes clinging to the side of the brick buildings.

"No, it's okay. Hey, how do you-" she didn't know how to describe it so she bounced the ball on her knee like he did early in the afternoon. He smiled and showed her how to do it. She practiced for a while and when she lost the ball he tossed it back to her. In the distance she heard a noise, a soft rumbling. With this noise she felt anxiety, a rain drop of fear in the blue sky of her perfect day and she shook her head. The rumbling noise got a little louder and she knew what it was. Johnny and the rest of the stupid Cobra Kai coming to ruin her good time.

She saw them, saw their motorcycles glistening in the distance, saw their blond heads under their helmets. She thought it might be better if Johnny didn't see her with this boy. She knew Johnny and she knew he wasn't over her. She knew he would tear his jaws into someone like a bit pull to get what he wanted. She didn't want anything to happen to this sweet boy that she innocently decided to flirt with. It wasn't his fault she had a psychotic ex-boyfriend. She sought to spare him. So she kicked the ball away, far enough away that Johnny would come and go and not notice him. That was the hope.

But he started in again, just like always. He demanded her attention, he wanted to talk. She was done talking. She wanted him to leave. The arguing was taking too long and the cute dark haired boy came back with the ball and watched Johnny take her radio from her and toss it down and that started it all. He went to hand her the radio back and Johnny shoved him down. There would be no stopping whatever would happen, and Ali knew that. She knew Johnny. She bit her lip and watched.

He probably couldn't win a fight with Johnny. He took karate and he was good. She knew that. She'd seen the tournaments. She'd seen fights and he always won. She knew what he could do. She'd fought with him herself and felt her wrists bones being squeezed in his grasp. She'd felt his shoves and knew the power behind them. She watched Johnny kick him in the stomach and punch him in the face and leave him in the sand. When he finally left and took all his Cobra Kai's with him she went over to the dark haired boy. He was lying on his stomach on the sand, writhing in pain, and close to him she could hear him moaning and almost crying. She bent down and touched his shoulder and felt him jerk away from her.

"Leave me alone," he said, choking, barely able to speak.

"I-I can help you-" she said.

"No. I'm okay, just leave me alone," he said, and she watched him double up in pain, and her friend pulled her away.

"C'mon, Ali, it's better if you leave him alone,"

She walked away but looked back over her shoulder. The thing was, she didn't want to leave him alone. She wanted to help him because she understood. She understood how mean and how strong Johnny could be. And was there some sick twisted part of her that liked seeing him hurt like that? That liked the sound of his low moans of pain and the way he squeezed his eyes shut? Was there some sick twisted part of her that liked the fact that she could help him?

In the first days of school she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She gazed at the purple bruising around his eye, at the way it made him look tough and vulnerable at the same time. In those first days she knew she would have him. He would be hers.


	2. Chapter 2

Cheerleading tryouts were the first week of school. Ali practiced her flips with her friends, and she wasn't nervous. She'd make the squad, again. She'd make it because she was that girl, cheerleader, blond, popular. It was her due. She accepted what was her due.

Soccer tryouts were going on at the same time, and there was Johnny. She could see his blond hair shining in the sun and she scowled. What had she seen in him? He was arrogant and mean. Had she liked that?

She clapped in rhythm with her friends and did her flips and saw the way the sun was shining off the leaves of the trees and then she saw him. Him. The boy from the beach. The sun gleamed off his black hair and the bruised eye made him look almost dangerous and she felt her heart beat fast. She wanted to talk to him and she felt the fear. Would he be okay after what Johnny did?

"Hey," she said, going over to him, and to her relief he smiled at her.

"Hey," he said in a kind of slow way that made her feel almost drunk, and she closed her eyes for a second.

"Sorry about your eye," she said, feeling guilty over the whole thing. Johnny was really angry with her, not him, but of course he couldn't blacken her eye.

"Oh, it looks worse than it feel, believe me," he said. She nodded, and was just happy he was talking to her and still looking at her that way, with that slight animal stare. Flirting and talking, and she liked his dark hair and dark eyes, liked the way his front teeth angled toward each other. She liked how thin he was, almost delicate. She was having a little trouble keeping her end of the conversation up, feeling intoxicated around him. She couldn't remember anyone else having this effect on her. She ducked her head and licked her lips.

She had to go back to the tryouts, her friends were calling for her. She didn't want to. She wanted to stay near him and talk to him all day. But she headed back, and then he called to her.

"Hey! Do you have a name?" he said, shading his eyes against the bright California sun.

"Ali, with an "I" she said, and he told her his name, "Daniel, with an "l" and she laughed, jogged back to her friends.

She did the cheers and clapped and did her flips but she kept her eyes on him, watched him kick the ball and run down the field. She watched one of Johnny's friends trip him and she watched him fall on him and punch him. She watched the coach pull them apart and yell at him, at Daniel, and she felt the unfairness of it in her bones. They had done it to him.

She watched him stalk off the field and even as far away as she was she could see the anger blazing in his eyes. In the dark blue light of the sky, the way he walked with his shoulders hunched up and the angry gait, she felt something she couldn't describe. She watched her friends clap lazily and try to keep in step with one another. She watched Johnny and his friends go back to the soccer try-outs, watched them tilt their heads back and laugh at what they had done. She knew something else, as well. The thing with them and Daniel was going beyond her now. He had become target and play thing for them, he had become the mouse to toy with, and she squinted into the blue sky and wondered where it would end.


	3. Chapter 3

Cheerleading tryouts were over, and Ali leaned over, her hands on her legs, breathing hard. She wasn't worried. She'd make it. Her friends gathered around her in a little circle but she shrugged away from them, seeing Freddie in the distance. He knew Daniel, she knew he did. She ran over to him.

"Hi, Ali," he said, smiling his wide and friendly smile.

"Hi," she said, tugging on his sleeve and sliding closer to him.

"Tell me everything you know about Daniel,"

"Daniel?" he said, his expression blank for a second.

"Oh, Danny. The Karate Kid," he said, laughing. Ali frowned at him but tugged on his sleeve again.

"Yeah, where's he from? New York?"

"Close. New Jersey,"

"Where in New Jersey?" She looked across the field, toward the school, the sun in her eyes.

"Jeez, Ali, I don't know his life story…"

"He must have told you where, what city. Didn't he?"

Freddie gazed across the field, his friends running off to the locker rooms without him.

"He didn't tell me but I overheard him telling the crazy old lady who lives in our building. He's from Newark,"

"Newark," she said, the name of that city not meaning much to her, but now it took on the special meaning, being the place that Daniel had come from.

"What's his last name?" she said, leaning into Freddie, looking up at him with pleading puppy dog eyes. He rolled his eyes back at her.

"He told me, I don't know, something Italian sounding,"

"Italian sounding? What was it?"

"C'mon, Ali, ask him this stuff yourself…"

"Freddie, just tell me,"

"Alright. LaRusso, I think, yeah, that was it. LaRusso. Happy?"

She smiled, her eyes sleepy in the late afternoon light.

"Yes, thank you,"

aspac###########################################################

The cafeteria the next day, the cloying smell of mass produced food filling her nostrils. She saw Daniel gazing at the selection of steamed vegetables and different flavored jellos. She ran up to him.

"Hi," she said, and he turned to her and smiled that crooked smile.

"Hey, Ali with an "I", how are you doing?"

"Good. How do you like the Valley so far?" she said, looking at the fading purple bruise around his eye, looking at the way his jet black hair fell across his forehead.

He shrugged, looked off to the side, looked a little sad.

"It hasn't been dull," he said.

"Was Newark dull?" she said, and he turned to look at her quick, a smile replacing the sad and distant look.

"How'd you know I was from Newark?" he said, picking up a little carton of milk and shaking it.

"I asked,"


End file.
